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RECORD 



HIESTER GLYMER; 



HISTORICAL PARALLEL, 



i 

BETWEEN HIM AXn 



Major-Oeneral JOHN W. GEARY. 



n > ALSO, 

OFFICIAL RETURNS OF ELECTION 



CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS ALLOWING SOLDIERS 
THE RIGHT TO VOTE. 




1866. 



RECOUD 

OP 

. HIESTER CLYMER: 

AND 

HISTOmCAL PARALLEL 

BETWEEN HIM AND 

Major-general JOHN W. GEARY. 



DIFICIAL RETURNS OF ELECTION ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS 
. ALLOWING SOLDIERS TJIE RIGHT TO VOTE. 



The people of Pennsylrania will soon be called upon to select the Chief 
Magistrate of the State for the next three years. Their choice is confined 
to two names, by the action of the several Conventions. The National 
Union party rejiresented at Harrisburg, and the soldiers and sailors in con- 
vention at Pittsbnrg, have placed in nomination Major-Genl. John W. 
Geary. lie is a Pennsylvanian by birth, and as a soldier has followed the 
flag of the State and the Nation in two wars, has risen with distinction 
through every grade of the army, has participated in sixty battles, and been 
wounded four times in the field. As a civilian he has Oiled, with the greatest 
success and distinction, important public positions requiring courage and 
discretion, administrative ability, and the highest order of integrity. 

The Democratic Convention has presented the name of the Hon. Hiester 
Clymer,- of Berks Co.— likewise a Pennsylvanian by birth. It is proposed 
briefly to examine his claims to so honorable and responsible a post as 
Governor of the Commonwealth. 

As Mr. Clymer has never served in a military capacity, not even when 
the soil of his native State was invaded, and her towns devastated by hostile 
armies ; and, as he has held but a single office, that of State Senator for a 
few years, the record of his public services is necessarily a short one. 
Indeed, it copsists entirely of his speeches and votes, during his senatorinl 
career of six years. But, as that career covers a period when the country 
was torn by a distracting and bloody civil war, and when the Slate of 
1 



Pennsylvania was contributing her blood and treasure without stint, in sup- 
port of the National cause, and for her own defence, it becomes a jiertiiient 
inquiry on which side Mr. Clyraer was to be found ; and whether he cast 
his talents, his influence, and his means on the side of the Government or of 
its enemies. Fortunately this record is before us in an authentic an'd un- 
questionable shape; and it shows that he is now the fit representative of his 
party, as he was its leader in the Senate during the rebellion, being foremost 
in denunciation of the Government, and strenuous in his opposition to every 
measure calculated to suppress rebellion. In 1861 he opposed and voted 
against arming the State after Sumter had been attacked. No one was 
more bitter in denunciation of, and refusal to hear loyal democrats at the 
Capitol in defence of the Union. He voted against an increase of pay to 
the soldiers who were perilling their lives on the battle-field ; he refused to 
give them the right of voting while in the service of their country; he re- 
fused to support the bill disfranchising deserters ; and was loud and unblush- 
ing in expressions of admiration and sympathy for Tallandigham and other 
traitors. 

In nominating him his party has been eminently consistent with its whole 
course during the rebellion ; no member of it was more steadily and per- 
sistently antagonistic to the great Union party, and the cause of the couutry 
during the whole of that period. 

We now furnish the proof of these assertions. 

Against Arming the State in 1861. 

On the 12th day of April, A. D. 1861, the Senate proceeded to the con- 
sideration of a bill for the arming of the Slate. This was the same day in 
which the rebel batteries opened their fire on Fort Sumter. On agreeing to 
the first section of the bill the yeas were 36 ; and the nays as follows, viz : 
Messrs. Blood, Clymer, Crawford, Mott, Schindei, and Welsh, 6. And ujion 
every section the vote stood the same; and upon the final passage, Mr. 
Clymer continued, with the small minority of 6, to vote against it. 

See Legislative Record for 1861 — pages 843-4-5 and 6. 

And on the IGth day of April, 1861, after the news of the attack upon 
Sumter had fired the Northern heart, and hundreds of thousands were rally- 
ing to the defence of our insulted flag, Mr. Clymer united with his five disloyal 
colleagues in entering upon the journal of the Senate a solemn protest against 
the bill for arming the State. 

See Legislative Record 1861, pages 902 and 3. 

It is true these disloyal Senators veiled their opposition to this measure 
under a pretended regard for constitutional forms ; but so .they did subse- 
quently in all the efforts of the Government to uphold its authority against 
the rebellion, and to guard the national flag from insult aud dishonor. 



Against Collection of Direct Tax in 1862. 

In the session of 18G2, during the dark days of the Republic, when reverses 
had overtaken her armies, and her credit was strained to the utmost to sup- 
ply the means of sustaining thorn in the field, Mr. Clyraer voted against the 
joint-resolutions of the Legislature to provide for the collection of the direct 
tax levied by the United States. 

^ See Legislative Record, 186^ pages 154-5, 

i • 

This was tbe only opportunity Mr. Clymer and his Democratic colleagues 
had, during that session, to manifest their hostility to the government and 
their sympathy with treason. True to their instincts, they tried to withhold 
the supplies, as before they had attempted to withhold the men. 

Against La'wr Authorizing Soldiers to Vote. 

On the 9th of April, 1863, the Senate proceeded to the consideration of a 
bill " to enable citizens of this commonwealth engaged in the military and 
naval service of the United States, or the military service of Pennsylvania, to 
vote." Mr. Clymer voted against the section ; and subsequently on the 10th 
of April, 1863, on the final passage of the bill, the Nays were Messrs. Bircher, 
Clymer, Donovan, Glatz, Kincey, Lamberton, McSherry, Mott, Reilly, 
Smith, Stark, Stein, and Wallace. 13 nays, all Democrats. 

See Legislative Record, 1863, page 808. 

In the session of 18G4, on the 9th of March, the joint-resolutions pro- 
posing an amendment to the Constitution, authorizing the soldiers to vote 
when absent in the field, being before the Senate, on their final passage Mr. 
Clymer, although present, dodged; and in the afternoon of the same day, 
having asked leave to record his vote, the Senate refused. 

See Legislative Record, 1864, pages 335-41. 

And when, later in the session, a lull was introduced to carry into effect a 
Constitutional amendment to that effect, upon its final passage Mr. Clyiaer 
not only spoke against it, but with his 12 Democratic colleagues voted 
against it. • See Legislative Record, 1864, page 509. 

1 Mr. Clymer votes against the Bill to Define and Punish 
Offences of a Treasonable Character. 

The then existing legislation of Congress in regard to the definition and 
punishment of treasonable offences having been found entirely deficient in 
the crisis of the rebellion, in order to encourage prompt and vigorous action 
by Congress the following joint-resolution was introduced into the Legisla- 
ture of Pennsylvania: — 



"Be it Resolved, dc, That the Senators from this State be instrncted and 
" the members of Congress requested to procure the immediate passage of 
" lavrs defining and punishing offences of a treasonable character, not amonnt- 
" ing to high treason, and providing for the fair and speedy trial, by an im- 
" partial jury, of persons eharged with such offences in the loyal and un- 
" disturbed States, so that the guilty may justly suffer, and the innocent be 
"relieved." 

During the debate Mr. Clymer made Tarious captions objections to the 
resolution ; and on its final passage voted No. 

See Legislative Record, 1863, pages 204^8. 

He Opposes Bounties to Volunteers. 

So npon the question of bounties to soldiers, Mr. Clymer manifested his 
opposition to it as a measure intended to strengthen the governnient in its 
sti'uggle with the rebellion. 

Doubts having arisen as to the extent of the authority of the connty com- 
raissioners to contract debts for this purpose, legislation was imperatively 
called for to secure prompt and uniform action throughout the State. 
This was on the eve of the great invasion of the State, and but three mouths 
before the battle of Gettysburg. 

A bill to legalize the payment of these bounties having been introduced, 
and perfected by a conference of the committees of the two houses, npon its 
final passage Mr. Clymer voted against it. 

See Legislative Record, 1863, pages 809-11. 

Refuses to allo'w Andre"w Johnson, and other loyal Demo- 
crats, to be heard in the Capitol in defence of the General 
Government. 

On the 6tb of March, 1863, the following resolution was submitted in the 
Senate of Pennsylvania : — 

" Whereas, Governor Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, a brave and loyal 
" man, whose devotion to the Union is fully attested by his sacrifices and 
"efforts in the cause of his country, and Ex-Governor Joseph A. Wright, a 
" distinguished and patriotic citizen of the State of Indiana, are about to 
" visit Harrisburg, and propose to address the people on the great question 
"now agitating the public mind, and which are of so much moment to the 
"stability of the general government; therefore, 

" Resolved, That Governor Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, and E.x-Gover- 
" nor Joseph A. Wright, of Indiana, be and they are hereby tendered the 
" use of the hall of the Senate this afternoon, for the purpose of addressing 
"their fellow-citizens of Pennsylvania." 

Mr. Clymer, in the discussion which followed, said, among other things, 
" In this particular case, I have my distinct personal and general reasons for 



" voting against having Anckew Johnson in these halls. They may not be 
"satisfactory to others; they are, sir, to- myself, and they will be to those 
"whom I represent. Sir, I ilo not recognize Andrew Johnson as the gover- 
" nor of Tennessee. I say that he assumes the title without warrant of the 
" Constitution, or warrant under the laws of the United Slates. I say that 
" his appointment to conduct the affairs of the State of Tennessee was but a 
" portion of that general system by which it is attempted to consolidate this 
" Government, and make it one great machine to be wielded by the power 
"of one man. For that reason, I am against, receiving Andrew Johnson 
"as the Governor of the State of Tennessee." 

Later in the debate Mr. Clymer said — 

" Mr. Spealier, on this day, at this hour, and in this place, t great issue is 
" on trial, fraught with the interests not only of the present, but of the future; 
"and if I, in the decision of this issue, have acted a part, however nuimport- 
"ant, I shall hereafter look back to this day, to this hour, and this place, with 
"feelings of no Utile gratification. ' 

"What is the question presented? It is a proposition to invite Andrew 
"Johnson, the so-called Governor of Tennessee, to address the people of 
" Pennsylvania from the Senate chamber of this State. I have various rea- 
" sons for opposing this proposition. In the first place, I here boldly proclaim 
" that he is not at this hour, and never has been by the Constitution, or 
" under the laws, the Governor of the State of Tennessee, except when years 
" ago he was elected to that office by the people. I say, sir, that his ap- 
" pointment by the President of the United States to that position was a 
"usurpation of power on the part of the President, and that there is no war- 
"rant under the Constitution, no authority in the laws, for his appointment; 
" and that avery act which he has assumed to perform, by virtue of his 
" unconstitutional and illegal appointment, has been in derogation of the 
" rights of a sovereign State, and in fiat violation of the Constitution of the 
" United States. I say, sir, furthermore, that no such position as Military 
" Governor of a State is known to the Constitution of the United States ; 
" that there is nothing in that instrument which authorizes the President of 
" the United States to appoint a Military Governor of any State; and that 
" to make such an appointment was to create the State of Tennessee a 
"military province; and that his appointment was made to carry out and 
"subserve the purposes of the present Administration, which is to reduce 
"all the States of this Union to the condition of mere dependencies of a 
" consolidated oligarchy or despotism. Tliat is my position so far as con- 
"cernsthis pretended Governor of Tennessee. Andrew Johnson has not; 
" been for yea*s, and is not now the Governor of that State, and I will never 
" recognize him as such by voting for this resolution. But, sir, without re- 
" gard to any question of his official position, take Andrew Johnson as an 
" individual, assuming that he is rightfully clothed with the robes of office, 
"and may constitutionally e.^ercise the duties of that high position, even 
"then, I say to you, Mr. Speaker, that I never by ray vote will allow a man 



" to come into these halls, and from this place sjieak to the people of this 
"great State in support of what I know to be ilkifal, unconstitutional, and 
" tyrannical acts of the Federal Government. / know, sir, that Andrew 
" Johnson has gone as far as the farthest, and is ready to go still farther, to 
" destroy, to vproot, to upturn every principle upon which this great and 
"good Governme7it of ours was founded. I know that he has bent with sup- 
"pliant knee before the throne of power. I know that for pelf, or some other 
" consideration, he has succumbed to every measure presented to him for ap- 
" proval or disapproval ; aiid I know that in speeches delivered in the capitals 
" of other States he has enunciated doctrines which, if adopted by the people of 
''the great North, would be subversive of individual freedom and personal 
" right. 

" Sir, by no vote of mine can any person holding such views address the 
"people of Pennsylvania in this chamber. Never, sir, never, so long as J have 
" a right to forbid him /" 

And afterwards, ill disguising his bitterness and his contempt for the 
loyal Governor of Tennessee, he described him " as a mere hireling of federal 
"patronage and power," and voted against giving him a hearing. 

See Legislative Record of 1863, pages 376-7. 

A Friend of Vallandigham. 

Mr. Clymer declared that " if Woodward and Vallandigham were elected 
" Governors of Pen?isylvania and Ohio, they, with Seymottr of New York, 
" and Parker of New Jersey, woidd unite in calling from the army the troops 
"from their respective States, for the purpose of compelling the Administration 
"to invite a convention of the States to adjust our difficulties." 

This startling declaration was made on the 24th of August, 1863, in a 
public speech delivered before the people of Somerset, in this State, and is 
authenticated not only by mnimpeacliable witnesses, but afterwards, by a 
feeble attempt at explanation or extenuation, by Mr. Clymer himself. 

The atrocity of such a sentiment from a Senator of the State will be best 
understood when it is recollected that this treasonable declaration was made 
by him only a few weeks after the soil of the State had been overrun and 
devastated by the rebel hordes under Lee ; and while the field of Gettysburg 
was still red with the blood of that terrible battle, the victorious result of 
which aloiie saved the State and its Capital, and prevented the terms of an 
inglorious peace from being dictated to the North, by a southern army, in 
the City of Philadelphia. 

General Geary, although wounded at Chancellorsville, marched to the 
rescue with his division ; and with Crawford and Hancock, Reynolds aud 
Meade — those gallant Pennsylvanians — took a conspicuous part in the 
splendid achievements of the three eventful days of that great battle, 
lliester Clymer, the State Senator, with no sympathy for his Government, 
aud no word of encouragement for the soldiers who were fighting its battles, 



openly prooliiimed a pnrpose wliicli, if. it had been carried oat, would have 
been a virtnal surrender to the defeated, but still arros^ant South. 
VVc proceed to give the authority for this statement : — 
On the 3d of February, 1804, Mr. Clymer was charged on the floor of the 
Senate with having made such a speech at Somerset. After a weak attempt 
at evading the charge, he proceeded to state what he did say on that occasion. 
And let every candid reader say whether Mr. Clyraer's own version, consider- 
ing the time and circumstances under which it was given, was not worse in 
spirit and utterance than the oripimil treasonable declaration at Somerset. 
But to tlie record. JNIr. Clymer, in reply to the charge referred to, made 
tiie following remarks, viz. : — 

" Now, sir, for the benefit of those who desire to hear it, I will state what 
" I did say on the occasion referred to. It is alleged that I made use of the 
" language in a speech delivered at Somerset, in the County of Somerset, in 
" this State. The only remark I made then which could be tortured into 
" such a malicious misstatement as appeared in the newspapers was this, that 
" if Judge Woodward was elected Governor of Pennsylvania, and Vallandig- 
" ham Governor of Ohio, they, in conjunction with those two great patriots, 
" Seymour of New York, and Parker of New Jersey, would compel this 
" Government to come back to the resolution of July, 1861, and prosecute 
"this war for the purposes set forth in that resolution. I say now, and 
" believe that it was the greatest calamity that has yet befallen this country that 
"those two men were not elected; i'or I believe now, and ever shall believe, 
" that the departure from the purposes and objects of that resolution has 
" deluged this land in blood, wasted our substance, and made us a mournful 
"spectacle amongst the nations of the earth." 

See Legislative Record, 1864, page 149. 

"We are permitted to give the authority of the editor of the " Somerset 
Herald and Whig," and of the Hon. Wm. H. Koontz, the member of Con- 
gress elect from that district, and of other gentlemen who were present, for 
the strict accuracy of the language attributed to Mr. Clymer, in his Somerset 
speech. His own version is even worse ; for, not content with saying that 
Vallandigham and his colleagues would, if successful, have compelled the 
Government to pursue their policy, Mr. Clymer, in the face of the legisla- 
ture, proclaimed our country, then victorious, at every point, " a mournful 
spectacle aryiongst the nations of the earth." What Vallandigham and Wood- 
ward would have done, if successful, they did not hesitate to avow. Every 
one, familiar with the history of 1862-3, knows if the four great central 
States had passed under the control of such disloyal governors, it was the 
intention of northern syrap'athizers to compel the (icneral Government into 
submission to their plans by a recall of the State troops from our armies in 
the field. The same party whoso loaders, only a short time before, had 
waited on Lord Lyons, the British minister, and besought foreign interven- 
tion against their own government, and whose presses, and orulors, and 



8 

political conventions did not hesitate to recommend the recoil of the State 
troops, would undoubtedly have carried their pur})ose into effect if they had 
had the power ; and Mr. Clymer not only truly represented his own party 
in his Somerset speech, but then uttered sentiments in which he gloried a 
year later, when he contemplated such aid and comfort to the rebellion. 

Properly and justly has he been called " The Valhmdigham of Pennsyl- 
vania." True, his notorious model was tried, and convicted, and sent 
" beyond the Union lines," and Mr. Clymer was not. But, the latter is now 
on trial before th« insulted citizens and soldiers of Pennsylvania, and as the 
former, for kindred offences, was recently submerged under a himdred thou- 
sand majority, by the gallant patriots of Ohio, so will the loyal voters of the 
old Keystone make haste to follow so illustrious an example. 

Mr. Clymer "opposed to the War as at present conducted, 
and never did approve of it in itself." 

In order to place the sentiments of Mr. Clymer on record, beyond denial, 
it is only necessary to quote the resolutions adopted at a meeting in Berks 
County, which he united in calling, and which he addressed. This meeting 
was held at the Court House in Reading, on the 21st of April, 1863. It was 
intended to sustain the Democracy of that county in their disloyal attitude 
to the Government, and in their forcible resistance to the draft, by means of 
secret organizations. Among the resolutions adopted were the following, 
Tiz: — 

" Resolved, That secret societies, political or otherwise, are not in them- 
" selves ill violation of the Constitution and the laws; and that whenever a 
"free people see proper to organize themselves in secret or in public, they 
" have a right to protection, and if the Government, fhr political purposes, 
"fails to render that protection, tve pledge ourselves to furnish it to the extent 
" of our power." 

After resolving that "resistance by force to an invasion of our personal 
"freedom is a virtue," this virtuous party further "Resolved, That ice do not 
"approve of this war as at jrresent conducted; WE NEVER DID APPHOVE OF IT 
"IN ITSELF, but accepted it in preference to disunion, anarchy, and despo- 
"tism, under pledges that it should be conducted solely with a view lo the 
"restoration of the Union. These pledges have beeii broken; the war is 
"converted into an abolition crusade, and we are free fro/n any ohligalions, 
"e.\cept those of obedience to law." 

The all-pervading spirit of these resolutions S'as a bitter hostility to the 
" present authorities of the United States ;" but they contained not a word 
against the government of Jetlerson Davis. They proclaimed a purpose "to 
assert the sovereign right of the State of Pennsylvania," which meant, if 
they should succeed at the approaching elections for Governor and Members 
of the Legislature, to secede from the National Union, and unite with the 
fortunes of the Confederacy. 



After the reading of these resolutions, TTiester Clyraer, then a prominent 
candidate for noniination as Governor, addressed the meeting. His speech 
was especially violent and inflammatory, snrpassing even the resolutions in 
the boldness of its opposition to and contempt for the Government. 

This closes the brief and inglorious record of Mr. Clynier. He never 
held but the one public office ; and that was during the period of the despe- 
rate struggle of the Government with the Slaveholders' Rebellion. He might 
have upheld the Government and have created a powerful influence in his 
District on the side of loyalty and the Union. But the whole record may 
be searched in vain for a syllable or vote of his that would not have been 
applauded at Charleston or Richmond. 

This man is now thg candidate of the Democracy for the highest office in 
the gift of the people of Pennsylvania. The organ of that party says of 
him that "he now stands as the representative man in this commonwealth of 
the jirinci pies which lie has always advocated." "His opinions are before the 
people, and he is willinr/ to stand or fall by them." 

This record of him is drawn from authentic materials that cannot be 
questioned. And in order to enable the people of Pennsylvania to decide 
between Hiester Clymer and General John W. Geary we have prepared the 
following historical parallel. 



HISTORICAL PARALIiEIi. 



John W. Geary, candidate of the 
National Union party for the Gov- 
ernorship of Pentisylvania, was born 
December 20, 1819, in Westmoreland 
County, Pennsylvania. 

He entered Jefferson College, at 
Canonsburg, Pa. ; but before gradu- 
ating, his father died, leaving his 
widow and her young family entirely 
dependent. Young Geary immedi- 
ately left college, opened a school, 
assumed the support of his mother, 
and, by his industry, self-denial, and 
economy, not only was enabled to 
provide for her and her family, but 
finally discharged the debts which his 
father, who failed in business, bad 
unavoidably left unsatisfied. 



Hiester Cltmer was born iu Berks 
County, Pennsylvania, in the year 
1827, of respectable parentage. His 
grandfather, George Clymer, was one 
of the signers of the Declaration of 
Independence. He had the benefit 
of a liberal education, studied law, 
and was admitted to practice at the 
Reading bar. 

Nothing was heard of him in pub- 
lic life until the year 1S5U, when he 
commenced his political career by 
running for the Legislature on the 
Whig ticket in Berks County. Of 
course he was not elected. He, how- 
ever, ran behind Gen. Wm. H. Keira, 
the Whig candidate for Congress, 
1509 votes. 



1* 



10 



GEARY. 

Geary, not fiudiug the profession of 
teaching to furnish sufBcient scope 
for liis tastes and aspirations, after a 
brief clerkship in a wholesale store 
at Pittsburg, commenced the study 
of civil engineering. 

lie subsequently studied law, and 
was admitted to practice. 

lie was employed as civil engineer 
and superintendent of the Alleghany 
Portage Railroad in 1846, when the 
war with Me.\ico occurred. 

Quickly responding to the call for 
volunteers, he recruited a company in 
a few days, and organized it under 
the name of the "American High- 
landers." This company was attached 
to the Second Regiment Pennsylvania 
Volunteers, and Captain Geary was 
at once elected Lieutenant-Colonel. 
He joined the army of General Scott 
at Vera Cruz, and was attached to 
General Quitman's command. 

He distinguished himself in the 
Mexican campaign for personal gal- 
lantry and military skill, particularly 
in the bloody battles of 
La Hoya, 
Cerro Gordo, 
Chapultepec, and 
Garita-de-Belen. 

Colonel Roberts having died, Geary 
was elected Colonel of the regiment. 
In consideration of his valuable ser- 
vices, he was assigned to the com- 
mand of the great Citadel of the Capi- 
tal, and his commission as colonel 
was dated on that memorable spot. 

The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 
having established peace with Mex- 
ico, and secured California to the 
United States, in January, 1849, 
President Polk, in grateful recogni- 



CLYMER. 

He remained a Whig until 185G, 
when he joined the Democratic ranks. 

In 1860 he ran for the State Sen- 
ate, on the Democratic ticket, to fill 
a vacancy; and he has represented 
his county in that position for the 
last six years. 



11 

GEARY. CLYMER. 

tion of his gallant services, appointed 
Col. Geary postmaster of San Fran- 
cisco, vvitli full power to create post- 
offices, appoint postmasters, establish 
mail routes, and make contracts for 
carrying the mails throughout Cali- 
fornia. 

Having held this office until Gen. 
Taylor's accession to the Presidency, 
be was unanimously elected by the 
people of San Francisco to the office 
of first Alcalde. 

In addition to this, Brig.-Gen. Ri- 
ley, then Governor of California, in 
August, 1849, appointed him Judge 
of First Instance for the district of 
San Francisco. 

I These were Mexican offices. As 
Alcalde he was Sheriff, Probate 
Judge, and Recorder, and daily held 
a mayor's and alcalde's court for 
minor cases, as well as general execu- 
tive matters of the city. As Judge 
of First Instance he held a court 
having both civil and criminal juris- 
diction throughout the city ; and a 
court of admiralty, exercising au- 
thority in all maritime cases. Judge 
Geary performed all these varied du- 
ties so much to the satisfaction of the 
people, that at the close of the year, 
when a new election took place, he 
received all bnt four out of the twelve 
thousand votes that were polled. 

Under the first city charter, in May, 
1850, Geary was elected first Mayor 
of San Francisco by a large majority. 
A year later, although urged to be a 
candidate for re-election, he declined. 
He consented, however, to serve as 
president of the commissioners to 
manage the funded debt of the city, 
and rendered important service. 

When the convention of delegates 



12 

GEARY. CLYMER. 

assembled at Monterey, in 1849, to 
form a State- Constitution, Geary was 
chairman of the Democratic Terri- 
torial Committee, and it was mainly 
through his influence that the Free 
State clause was inserted in the newly- 
framed Constitution. 

JohnW. Geary landed at San Fran- 
cisco on the 1st of April, 1849, and 
left California on the 1st of February, 
1852. In less than three years he 
had achieved more than most men 
achieve in a lifetime of threescore 
and ten. 

In the mean time the Kansas-Ne- 
braska agitation had disturbed the 
peace of the country, and actual hos- 
tilities had occurred in the Territory 
of Kansas. Governors Reeder and 
Shannon had failed to settle the diffi- 
culties. In July, 1856, Col. Geary 
was appointed, by President Pierce, 
Governor of that Territory, and the 
appointment was confirmed by the 
Senate without the usual reference 
to a committee. As the Governor 
ascended the Missouri River, he met 
ex-Governor Shannon on his way 
down the river, flying for his life. 
The town of Leavenworth was in the 
hands of armed bodies of men, an 
an army of three thousand men as 
scmhlpd to destroy the free State 
town of Lawrence. Governor Geary 
rode into their camp unattended, as- 
sumed command of their forces, and 
addressing to them some earnest 
words of patriotic and loyal counsel, 
he disbanded and sent tljem to their 
homes. When he approached their 
lines, he did not know whether they 
would shoot him or acknowledge his 
authority. It was an extremely criti- 
cal case, and required great nerve 



13 



GEARY. 

and presence of niiiid. But he was 
equal to the situation. 

In iiis public address at Lecompton, 
and in his Hrsl Annual Messaj^e to tiie 
Territorial Assembly, the Governor 
took his stand: " £quul tind exact 
justice to alt men, of whatever political 
ji'trty or religious persuasion." All 
the elements of violence and disorder 
combined against him ; and yet, in a 
short time, owing to his vigorous and 
skilful measures, he was enabled to 
make the following announcement : 
" Peace now reigns in Kansas ; con- 
fidence is gradually being restored; 
settlers are returning to their claims; 
citizens are resuming their ordinary 
jtursnlts, and a general gladness per- 
vades the community." 

On the 4th of March, 1857, the 
day of the inauguration of Mr. Bu- 
chanan, he forwarded his resignation. 
But in this short space of time he 
had withstood border ruffianism, sup- 
pressed all organized violence, and 
restored the supremacy of the Federal 
and Territorial laws. 

Kansas came out of her baptism of 
blood and fire & free State; and to 
no man was this result more due, in 
her case, as in that of California, than 
to John W. Geary. 

Governor Geary was at his rural 
home in Westmoreland County when 
the thunders of armed treason first 
Inoke upon the ear of the nation. 
In the summer of 1861 he proceeded 
to Philadelphia to raise a regiment; 
sixty-six companies solicited permis- 
sion to join his command. He was 
authorized to raise his regiment to 
the standard of si.x teen companies, with 
one battery of si.x guns, known after- 
wards as" Kiiapp's Battery." Colonel 



CLYMER. 



The Legislative Record of this pe- 
riod will be searched in vain for any 
evidence that Mr. Clymer was iden- 
tified with any measures of great or 
public importance. It shows him 
only as taking part in ordinary or 
local legislation, e.xcept when it be- 
came necessary to speak or vote on 
the great tjuestions involved in the 
maintenance of the national authority 
against the revolutionary attempts of 
the seceding States. On all such 



14 



GEARY. 

Geary at once received orders to pro- 
ceed to Harper's Ferry, to report to 
General Banks, then in command. 
He was assigned to command of 
Maryland Heiglits. On tlie Ifitli of 
October, 1861, he fought the Battle 
of Bolivar, with one thousand men 
and four guns, against an assailing 
force of five thousand men and six 
guns. He severely repulsed the ene- 
my, after an engagement of eight 
hours. In this engagement he was 
wounded iu the right linee. 



In the movement made by General 
Banks in the spring of 1862 Colonel 
Geary was assigned to the command 
of the advance. On the Sth of March 
he bore a conspicuous part in the 
battle which resulted in the capture 
of Leesburg. He led the van of the 
Union column in the subsequent ope- 
rations, by which the rebel forces 
were obliged to evacuate all the towns 
•north of the Jlappahannock, and 
were dislodged fBom their strongholds 
at Snicker's, Ashby's, Manassas, and 
Chester Gaps, in the range of the 
Blue Mountains. For the services 
rendered in this campaign he was 
promoted to the rank of Brigadier- 
General. 

On the 9th of August, 1862, in the 
obstinately fought Bftttle of Cedar 
Mountain, between the forces under 
Banks and Stonewall Jackson, Gene- 
ral Geary was wounded slightly in 
the left foot and severely iu the right 



CLYMER. 

questions he was invariably in sym- 
pathy with the rebellion. But let 
the Record speak for hira. 

On the 12th day of April, 1861, 
the day of the rebel assault upon 
Fort Sumter, he opposed and voted 
against the bill for arming the State. 
— See Legislative Record for 1861, . 
pages 84.3-.'i, &c. 

On the 15th of April, 1861, after 
the news of the fall of Sumter had 
been received, and the Northern heart 
had been fired by this insult to the 
national flag, Mr. Clymer, with his 
five disloyal colleagues, entered on 
the Journal of the Senate their sol- 
emn protest against the passage of 
the bill for arming the State. — See 
Legislative Record for 1861, pages 
902-3. 

In the session of 1862, during the 
dark days of the Republic, and when 
reverses had .overtaken her armies, 
Mr. Clymer voted against sustaining 
them in the field, by voting against 
the joint resolutions of the Legisla- 
ture to provide for the collection of 
the direct tax levied by the United 
States. — See Legislative Record foi 
1862, pages 15i-5. 



15 



GEARY. 

arm, anrl was carried from the field 
at the close of the day. 

Shortlyafter the Battle of Antietam 
the Twelfth Corps was assigned to 
General Slocum, and Geary was pro- 
moted to the command of its Second 
Division. 

On the 1st, 2d, and 3d of iVfay, 
1 s(J3, General Hooker, liaviiig crossed 
the Rappahannock, gave Lee battle 
at Chancellorsville. In thfs bloody 
and memorable engagement, the 12th 
C'orps maintained a conspicuous part, 
and Genera] Geary, at the head of 
the 2d Division, was distinguished 
for his coolness and courage. In 
this battle he was seriously wounded 
in the left breast by the fragment of 
a shell. 

It was at Chancellorsville that his 
command was first designated as the 
" White Star" Division, by which it 
was known until its honorable dis- 
eharge at the end of the war. 

In the next battle, foughton Penn- 
sylvania soil, at Gettysburg, on the 
2d and 3d of July, 1863, Geary bore 
a conspicuous part. Meade and 
Reynolds, Hancock, Crawford, and 
Geary, noble ^ons of Pennsylvania, 
divided the responsibilities and shared 
the dangers and glorious results of 
that dreadful contest. 

After Gettysburg came Chioka- 
mauga. The important results of the 
latter made it necessary to reinforce 
thi! Array of the Cumberland. The 
Eleventh and Twelfth Corps were 
ordered to join the Army of the 
Sjiithwest. Geary followed the for- 
tunes of the Twelfth Corps, and con- 
tinued at the head of his old Division. 
Grait had now assumed chief com- 



CLYMER. 



Onthe 9th and 10th of April, ISfiS, 
on the consideration and final ])as- 
sage of the bill to authorize those in 
the military and naval service of the 
United States to vote, he voted with 
his Democratic colleagues against 
every section. — Same, page 808. 

In the session of 1864, on the 9th 
of March, upon the joint-resolutions 
proposing an amendment to the Con- 
stitution authorizing the soldiers to 
vote, Mr. Clymer being present 
dodr/ed ; and in the afternoon of the 
same day, having asked leave to re- 
cord his vote, the Senate refused. — 
See Legislative Record, 1864, 335- 
341. 

And later in the session, when a 
bill was introduced to carry this 
amendment into effect, Mr. Clymer 
not only spoke against it, but with 
his twelve Democratic colleagues 
voted against it. — See Legislative 
Record, 1S64, page 5U9. 



During the session of 1863 Mr. 
Clymer voted against joint-resolu- 
tions in favor of a law to define and 
punish treasonable oflfences. — Legis- 
lative Record, 1863, page 204-8 

During same session he voted 
against the bill to legalize the pay- 
ment of bounties to Volunteers. This 
was on the eve of the invasion of the 
State, and but three months before 



16 



GEARY. 

mand. In pursuance of his plan, the 
battle of Wauhatehie was fought 
October 28, 1863 ; of Lookout Mouii- 
taiu, November 24 ; of Mission 
.Ridge, November 25; and Ringgold, 
November 27. Geary's was the only 
division of his corps that participated 
in tiiese battles of the " Ciiattanooga 
Campaign*" and his name will ever 
be proudly associated with its brilliant 
victories. 

His division fought the battle of 
Wauhatehie alone. Of this battle 
General Hooker says : "During these 
operations a heavy musketry fire, with 
occasional discharges of artillery, con- 
tinued to reach us from Geary. It 
was evident a formidable adversary 
had gathered round him, and that he 
was battering him with all his might. 
For almost three hours, without as- 
sistance, he repelled the repeated at- 
tacks of vastly superior numbers, and 
in the end drove them ingloriously 
from the field. At one time they had 
enveloped him on both sides, under 
circnmstanees that would have dis- 
mayed any officer, except one en- 
dowed with an iron will and a most 
e.xalted courage. Such is the charac- 
ter of General Geary." 

General Slocuni also awarded him 
the highest credit. But on this 
bloody field General Geary lost his 
eldest son, Capt. Edward R. Geary, 
who commanded a section of Knapp's 
celebrated battery. He fell pierced 
through the forehead, while bravely 
maintaining his po.sitiou against su- 
perior numbers. 

In the spring of 1864, the Army 
of the Southwest was reorganized. 
Grant having been invested with the 
rank of Lieutenant-General and Com- 



CLYMER. 

the battle of Gettysburg. — Loiri^Ia' 
tive Record for 1863, pages BUi)-ll. 



On the 6th of March, 1863, Mr. 
Clynier opposed giving Andrew John- 
son, then Governor of Tennessee, the 
privilege of speaking at the Capitol 
of Pennsylvania oit behalf of the loyal 
men of the South. He denounced 
him as a usurper, charged him with 
" upturning every principle on which 
tliis government is founded;" ivith 
having " bent the suppliant knee before 
the throne of power ;" and that, "for 
pelf or some other consideration " h^ 
had yielded to the. measures of the 
government. He further spoke of 
him " as a mere hireling of Federal 
patronage and power." — Legislative 
Record of lti63, pages 376-7. 



On the 21st of April, 1S63, he ad- 
dressed a public meeting called under 
his auspices, and held at the Court- 
House in Reading, Berks County. 



IT 



GEARY. 

mander-in-cliief, Slierman assumed 
command of all the forces designated 
to operate in the Southwestern and 
extreme Southern States. By direc- 
tion of that great Captain important 
changes were effected in the organi- 
zation of this army. The 11th and 
12th Corps were consolidated into the 
2(lth, under Hooker. Gqary contin- 
ued in command of his old division, 
with the addition of one brigade from 
the 11th Corps. Sherman's Army, 
complete in equipment, and about 
90,000 strong, commenced its great 
campaign on the 4th of May, 1864. 
The' events which foll'owed can scarce- 
ly be named here. Geary was in all 
of them, at the head of his division, 
to which he was endeared by long 
companionship in perils, hardships, 
and sufferings. He participated in 
the battles of Mill Creek and Spake 
Gap, ]\Iaj 8th; Resaca, May 15th; 
New Hope Church, commencing May 
26th and continuing eight consecutive 
days; Pine Hill, June 15th; Muddy 
Creek, June 17th; Nose's Creek, 
June 19th ; Kolb's Farm, June 22d ; 
Keucsaw, June 27th ; Marietta, July 
3d; Peach Tree Creek, July 20th; 
and the siege of Atlanta, lasting 
twenty-eight days, and ending in the 
capture of the city on the 2d of Sep- 
tember. To use his own language : 
"The campaign, from its opening till 
" the fall of Atlanta, was really a 
" one hundred days' fight, and may be 
" termed a continuous battle, crowned 
"with constant victory." 

General Sherman liavingconsigned 
Hood to the care of Thomas, with 
one-half of his grand army, on 16th 
November, 18G4, cut loose from his 
comm»nicatio»s at Atlanta, and start- 



CLYMER. 

Among other violent and inflamma- 
tory language against the General 
Government, he advocated the reso- 
lutions that " resistance by force to 
an invasion of our personal freedom 
is a virtue," and that "we do not ap- 
prove of this war as at present con- 
ducted. We nevek did ArraovE op 

IT IN ITSELl'." 



On the' 24th of August, 1863, in 
his Somerset speech, Mr. Clyraer de- 
clared that if Woodward and Val- 
landighara were elected Governors of 
Pennsylvania and Ohio, they, with 
Seymour of New York, and Parker, 
of New Jersey, would unite in recall- 
ing from the army the troops of their 
respective States, and tlius compel i\\Q 
Administration to call a convention 
of States to make terms with traitors. 

On the 3d of Feb'y, 1864, when 
Mr. Clymer was charged with having 
uttered such- a sentiment, he failed 
to justify himself, and went so far as 
to declare that the United States 
then "presented a mutirnful spectacle 
amongst ihe nations of the earth." 



18 

GEARY. CLYMER. 

ed on his famous march for the At- 
lantic coast. He tooli Geary with 
him : the latter, at the head of his old 
division, took part in all the -move- 
ments, marches, and battles of that 
campaign ; and finally, having led in 
the advance upon Savannah, he re- 
ceived the surrender of that city, and 
was appointed its Military Governor 
by General Sherman, in consideration 
of his services in its siege and cap. 
ture. 

While in command of the city as 
Military Governor, he was, in recog- 
nition of his services throughout the 
war, breveted Major-General of Vol- 
unteers. 

His commission as Major-General 
was dated January 12th, 186.5, and 
the reason assigned in it for his pro- 
mntinn was "Jiltiess to command, and , 

promptness to execnfr " , 

During the campaign in theCaro- 
linas which followed the capture of 
Savannah, Geary's division fought on 
the Apalache and Oconee rivers ; at 
Landsboro' and Davisboro'; at Sulka- 
hatchie, and North and South Edisto ; 
at lied Bank and Congaree; at Black 
River and Bentonville. 

In the vicinity of Goldsboro' and 
Raleigh, the gigantic struggle that 
saved the republic and gave hope to 
the world was brought to a close. 
The " White Star" division with its 
old commander witnessed the surren- 
der of Johnson ; and after partici- 
pating in the grand review at Wash- 
ington, were disbanded and returned 
to their homes. 

This valiant and faithful soldier Mr. Clymcr' was afterward a sup- 
was present at and participated in porter of the Chicago platform, which 
si.xty battles, and was wounded four declared "that after four years of 
times; he made nearly the entire " failure to restore the Union by the 



^ 
^ 



«« 



19 



GEARY. 

circuit of the rebel confederacy, and 
fouglit its authors and defenders 
in nearly every State that acknow- 
ledfred their usurped authority. The 
ref^imeut which he recruited in the 
beginning, the 28th Pennsylvania, 
continued with him to the end of the 
war. The brigade he commanded 
was the first in the whole army to re- 
enlist as veterans. The division he 
led in so many battles was never, in 
a single instance, either repulsed 
or driven by the enemy. Its unyield- 
ing front on the day of battle will 
account for its losses. During its 
campaigns in the South and South- 
west its casualties were about twenty- 
nine hundred; and from the time he 
assumed command until the close of 
the war, the casualties were not less 
than ten thousand. It is noteworthy 
that no regiment, after being trans- 
ferred to his brigade or division, ever 
left his command until it was duly 
mustered out of service. 

Tried in almost all departments of 
the public service, he has proved him- 
self eqnal to the exigencies of his 
position ; and from the most diilicult 
and adverse circumstances, his rare, 
■ability, prudence, and firmness have 
enabled him to achieve success and 
honorable disliucliou. 



CLYMER. 

"experiment of war," "immediate 
" efforts should be made for the ces- 
" sation of hostilities." 

And his whole public career, and 
all his ofBcial acts and private de- 
clarations have uniformly been con- 
sistent with the above record, lie 
might do to rule over South Carolina 
or Virginia, but never over the loyul 
men of I'eunsylvania. 



20 



Official Returns of Election on Con^itutional Amendment 
alloAving Soldiers the Right to Vote. . 

(Copied from Legislative Documents for 1864, page 15C6.) 
Election held August, 1§64. 



Conntles. 


For 
Ameniiment. 


Against 
Aiuendnieut. 


Counties. 


For 
Amendment. 


Against 
Amendment 


Adams, 


2,080 


1,491 


Lancaster, 


10,537 


1,604 


Allegheny, 


9,863 


896 


Lawrence, 


2,288 


146 


Armstrong, 


2,466 


1,676 


Lebanon, 


2,492 


6!-6 


Beaver, 


2,380 


365 


Lehigh, 


2,614 


3,137 . 


Bedford, 


1,922 


1,696 


Luzerne, 


4,575 


4,1 '-4 


Berks, 


6,016 


6,947 


Lycoming, 


2,714 


2,4:3 


Blair, 


2,505 


223 


McKean, 


570 


183 


Bradford, 


4,!)70 


229 


Mercer, 


3,212 


2,012 


Bucks, 


4.897 


4,042 


Mifflin, 


1,304 


576 


Butler, 


2,679 


1,237 • 


Monroe, 


458 


1,644 


Cambria, 


1,620 


2,143 


Montgomery, 


4,938 


4,743 


Carbon, 


1,097 


592 


Montonr, 


865 


710 


Centre, 


2,223 


2,319 


Northampton, 


2,476 


3,174 


Chester, 


6,415 


1,483 


Nortbumberlan 


id, 2,346 


. 2,177 


Clarion, 


1,613 


734 


Perry, 


2,046 


902 


Clearfield, 


1.208 


2,083 


PliiladelpWa, 


27,2(18 ■ 


9,9' 5 


Clinton, 


1,300 


1,377 


Pike, 


167 


. 841 


Columbia, 


1,533 


2,553 


Potter, 


1,025 


87 


Crawford, 


4,502 


932 


Schuylkill, 


5,923 


3,058 , 


Cumberland, 


2,927 


1,588 


Snyder, 


1,463 


870 ■ 


Cameron, 


• 225 


73 


Somerset, 


2,390 


9ri2 


Dauphin, 


3,711 


1,861 


Sullivan, 


316 


381 


Delaware, 


2.361 


157 


Snsquehanna, 


3,251 


422 


Elk, 


260 


382 • 


Tioga, 


3,297 


170 


Erie, 


5;029 


1,083 . 


Union, 


1,524 


484- 


Fayette, 


2,603 


2,503 


Venango, 


2,530 


821 


Forest, 


77 


16 


Warren, 


1,851 


212 


Franklin, 


2,513 


721 - 


Washington, 


4,031 


2,238 


Fulton, 


493 


645 


Wayne, 


1,444 


2,221 


Greene, 


1.81)2 


608 


Westmoreland, 


3.738 


3,383 


Huntingdon, 


2,505 


360 


Wyoming, 


1.181 


710 


Indiana, 


3,292 


689 


York, 


4,265 


3,884 


Jefferson, , 


1,497 


1,220 












Juuiata, 


1,003 


1,088 




199,855 


105,352 



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